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Tankless

Googled owners manual
Read the coast guard requirement laws an regulations.
Have plumber with all the required credentials for code installation.
Checked with my insurance company and the harbor master.

Always nice to have those with personal knowledge or experience too reply
Thanks again

We installed a little Excel on-demand water heater (propane) a couple of months ago, and so far as we can tell, it works just fine, even considering our low water pressure. We haven't put it to a hard-core cruising test just yet, but it fires up promptly, and delivers a good hot stream of water to the basin and shower in the head, as well as to the galley sink faucets. The Excel directions advise using only one-at-a-time, please, with this breadbox-size unit. It claims to be vent-free, but we installed it on the outside bulkhead just a few feet from the propane locker. I believe they make more than this wee-est size, but this seemed to be quite adequate for our needs. I had bought an earlier model, and life got in the way before we managed to hook it up. Several years later, the unused first one didn't fire up, so Excel gave us a generous credit for the inop unit, and promptly sent us a new one. It was easy to install, and had no issues at all. Nice people to deal with.

our electric is figured in our dock rent so it wouldn't help us any. I am considering it for our house though since we switched to propane for heat. the gas models are very efficient. as i'm writing this were sitting in maine looking out the window at 22in of fresh snow and another 16 coming tonight. were heading home sunday and looking forward to summer!

I suppose the water heater decision would depend on what kind of houseboating you do, and how many you take along for the ride. If you never leave the dock for more than a pleasant afternoon, I don't know that you'd need one like our small propane-powered on-demand system. Especially with unlimited electric available at the dock. For a house or a land-based cabin, a much more robust system would seem to be in order. As it is, we find the little water pump, (3.5 gpm, 45# pressure, about the size of a pint jar of mayo, ordered from Amazon, intended for RV water systems,) to work well-- so far. Bigger and more powerful is available, I gather. The nice Excel people suggested we get the low-pressure version of their smallest water heater. Good advice. There is no hot water storage tank, because that burner fires up within a second or so, and the water emerging almost instantly from the tap is plenty hot! The manufacturer suggests only one hot-water application at a time for this small unit.

As soon as the weather warms up enough and the winds abate, any week now, we aim to take off for several days at a time cruising in the back of our swampy beyond, just the two of us and the ship's cat, not hooked up to anything but an anchor at night. Glamping, I suppose is the term, with hot en-suite shower, hot coffee, cold beer, ice cream-- it's all going to be very nice for a pair of elderly hermits, and we are pleased to be so self-contained.

How long does what last? The hot water? As long as the running water and the two 30# tanks of propane to heat it with, hold out. We can carry up to 100 gallons of fresh water, so that's probably going to be our limiting factor. We have a handhold-able boat/rv -type showerhead to help conserve water, and expect both water and propane should last for a good many days between refills.